Management and operations should not go in different directions

He also applied for the job one last time. then choose Moira von Wrightwho was allowed to leave the post immediately in November after a confidence dispute.

since then Michael Lindfelt He assumed the duties of the university’s president, and on Wednesday it was reported that the Obo Academic University Board of Directors had been elected as its president. Seven people applied and four continued the process.

Lindfelt takes office immediately. When asked what he would do first as a manager, he replied:

– At the moment it is about talking to the media and receiving people who make me happy. It’s the wonderful moment in this.

Lindfelt describes the task as a gift, and he is bound to manage it well. This will be done, among other things, through dialogue.

At the same time, it’s about an act of balance, he says. Åbo Akademi University, like other universities, has difficult challenges ahead.

He talks about finances and mentions in particular the ownership strategy and ownership plan which is now relevant. HBL has been able to report that it is generating some concern and criticism internally.

According to Lindfelt, it is important to balance the economy so that it is possible to focus on the things that matter: research and education that “creates future visions for young people”.

A university in Finland today does not have the advantages of being small. We have the same financial conditions as all the other universities, we don’t have folders in our courses, we don’t have folders in other things we do too, but we have to find smart solutions.

Digital development also sets demands.

It is usually very difficult to manage organizations, to rethink their role in society in a certain way, and not much inclined to abandon the ways of working previously established. We are now in a time when society is changing very rapidly. Here the challenge is to be able to see what we need in contemporary development to focus and change our business. This discussion can be difficult.

Confirm the dialogue

Moira von Wright has been criticized for her non-communicative leadership. Michael Lindvelt says he meets regularly with deans and directors for an open and participatory discussion on key issues.

It is important that the business, through the deans, participates in the leadership, so that there is no management that pulls in one direction, and a company that pulls in another.

Lindfeldt says he understands that a managerial position can be windy.

Maybe there’s something inside of me that still thinks I’m someone with the right disposition and the right skills to thrive in this kind of situation.

According to Mikael Lindfeldt, there may still be wounds left after the events around Von Wright. He says he doesn’t want to wipe what happened under the rug, but he does want to build arenas where you can show off what happened.

– But I think that a large part of the frustrations have already been directed to think constructively about the future.

What do you think of Åbo Akademi University?

– In my opinion, Åbo Akademi University is one of the most important institutions in Swedish Finland, offering an arena of Swedish teaching and research at the highest level, under the conditions that apply to all universities in Finland.

Who constitutes an A?

The staff in general and the extent of our educational and research competencies, students who make life and vitality.

Moira von Wright moved the principal’s office from the main building to the Humanisticum, which stirred some emotion. Mikael Lindvelt says he doesn’t see a need to turn back, but he doesn’t want to lock himself in a building where property use is generally reviewed.

Lindfeldt, born in Turku, has lived in Turku since the end of the 1980s, when he began his academic career. He has worked at Åbo Akademi University all the time but also holds the degree of Associate Professor at Malmö University and Uppsala University.

Soon after the election, he’s still not sure how he’s going to celebrate, and says his wife might come up with something.

The term of office of the Vice-Chancellor begins immediately and extends until July 2026.